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    Gadge Maharaj: Life and Career

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    Srinivas Laishetty
    Gadge Maharaj was a social reformer and wandering mendicant born in 1876 in Maharashtra, India. He traveled from village to village preaching against superstitions, rituals, and social ills while doing community service projects like cleaning streets and building schools, hospitals, and animal shelters. He exhorted villagers to pursue values of hard work, simplicity, and service to others. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning before addressing the people. After his death in 1956, the Indian government launched cleanliness initiatives in his honor to encourage hygienic villages. He remains an inspirational figure for his vision and work helping the poor in India.

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    Gadge Maharaj: Life and Career

    Uploaded by

    Srinivas Laishetty
    140 views1 page
    Gadge Maharaj was a social reformer and wandering mendicant born in 1876 in Maharashtra, India. He traveled from village to village preaching against superstitions, rituals, and social ills while doing community service projects like cleaning streets and building schools, hospitals, and animal shelters. He exhorted villagers to pursue values of hard work, simplicity, and service to others. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning before addressing the people. After his death in 1956, the Indian government launched cleanliness initiatives in his honor to encourage hygienic villages. He remains an inspirational figure for his vision and work helping the poor in India.

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    Gadge Maharaj

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    Gadge Maharaj

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    Gadge Maharaj was a social reformer and wandering mendicant born in 1876 in Maharashtra, India. He traveled from village to village preaching against superstitions, rituals, and social ills while doing community service projects like cleaning streets and building schools, hospitals, and animal shelters. He exhorted villagers to pursue values of hard work, simplicity, and service to others. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning before addressing the people. After his death in 1956, the Indian government launched cleanliness initiatives in his honor to encourage hygienic villages. He remains an inspirational figure for his vision and work helping the poor in India.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    140 views1 page

    Gadge Maharaj: Life and Career

    Uploaded by

    Srinivas Laishetty
    Gadge Maharaj was a social reformer and wandering mendicant born in 1876 in Maharashtra, India. He traveled from village to village preaching against superstitions, rituals, and social ills while doing community service projects like cleaning streets and building schools, hospitals, and animal shelters. He exhorted villagers to pursue values of hard work, simplicity, and service to others. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning before addressing the people. After his death in 1956, the Indian government launched cleanliness initiatives in his honor to encourage hygienic villages. He remains an inspirational figure for his vision and work helping the poor in India.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
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    Gadge Maharaj

    Debuji Zhingraji Janorkar (February 23, 1876 December 20, 1956) popularly known as Sant Gadge
    Maharaj or Gadge Baba (Hindi: ) was a saintly social reformer, a wandering mendicant
    who held weekly festivals with the help of his disciples across Maharashtra. His reforms and visions
    for villages in India is still a source of inspiration for various political parties and non-government
    organizations.
    Life and career
    His original name was Davidas Debuji. Maharaj was born in Shedgaon village in Anjangaon
    Surji Taluka in Amravati District of Maharashtra to a Dhobi family. A public teacher, he
    traveled from one place to another wearing his food pan upturned on his head and carrying
    his trademark broom. When he entered a village, he would instantly start cleaning the gutters
    and roads of the village. He also told the citizens of the village that their congratulations
    would have to wait until his work was done. Villagers gave him money, babaji use that for
    progress of physical as well as thinking of society. From the money, Maharaj built
    educational institutions, dharmasalas, hospitals and animal shelters.
    He conducted his discourses in the form of "Kirtans" (a form of discourse which includes
    devotional songs by Saints) in which he would emphasize values like service to humanity and
    compassion. During his Kirtans, he would educate people against blind faiths and rituals. He
    would use Dohas (couplets of a song) by Saint Kabir in his discourses.
    He exhorted people to stop animal sacrifice as part of religious rituals and campaigned
    against vices such as alcohol abuse.
    He tried to embody the values that he preached: hard work, simple living and selfless service
    to the poor. He abandoned his family (a wife and threechildren) to pursue this path.
    [1]

    Death and Legacy
    Maharaj died on December 20, 1956 on his way to Amravati, on the banks of river Pedhi near
    Valgaon.
    The Government of India has started a 'Sant Gadgebaba Swachata Abhiyan' in 2000-01 in his
    honour. This programme awards prizes to villagers, who maintain clean villages.
    He was one of the great social reformers of Maharashtra. He was a saint who understood
    problems of his people and worked untiringly for upliftment of the poor and needy with focus
    on hygiene.
    The government of India has announced National Award for Sanitation and water in honour
    of him.

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